Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonsoki road Section 1 ready in three weeks – FG

Reconstruction/rehabilitation of the section one of the Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonsoki Expressway will be completed within three weeks, the Federal Government has said.

Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Olukayode Popoola, stated this on Saturday after a joint inspection of the road with the Nigerian Ports Authority.

He also said the Section 1 of the road would be opened for use after completing the work.

Popoola said the rehabilitation work, which had been divided into four sections, were to ease port congestion and gridlock at the Apapa axis.

The Section 1 starts from Liverpool Roundabout through Creek Road to Beachland near Sunrise and it is about 10km, while Section 2, spanning 8.4km starts from Beachland to Cele Bus Stop.

The reconstruction/rehabilitation of the road was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2018 to address the Apapa gridlock.

The contract was awarded to AG Dangote Construction Company Limited at a cost of N73 billion under the Tax Credit Scheme of the Federal Government.

Popoola said, “And this section that we are is the end of Section 1, which we have completed. We will complete the remaining portion within the next three weeks, especially the asphalt work.

“So within the three weeks, the outstanding work will be completed fully and then the section one will be made available to the motorists.

“We (FMW) also complained about the trucks that are infiltrating the road while we are working. We have told them (NPA) that we cannot allow trucks to flock onto the section where we are working because they will disturb the contractor.

“So the trucks will now be monitored and controlled fully. Both the NPA security, the Nigerian Police, LASTMA and then the contractor’s representative will form a synergy to work out how they will be controlling the trucks that enter into the port road henceforth.”

The controller added that agreement had also been reached for the contractor to move to site to begin construction work on section two of the project which had just been awarded.

He said work on Sections 3 and 4 had progressed, adding that it had achieved more than 70 per cent completion.

Popoola said the entire project would be completed and handed over within the next 10 months, including Section 2, which had just been awarded.

The Managing Director of the NPA, Hadiza Bala-Usman, said agreements were reached on timelines for construction work in order not to disrupt port operations.

She said one of the agreements was for the contractor to work during the weekends and on public holidays to ease congestion.

She said it was resolved that a corridor would be opened for trucks movement in addition to palliative work on some roads and another inspection in three weeks on section one.

She said truck movement would be in sequence, adding that a meeting would hold on how the trucks movement in batches would work out.

Bala-Usman said discussions were ongoing with the Lagos State Government on how to ensure enforcement against extortion of truck drivers as well as cleaning up shanties and social miscreants.

She said, “Removing all those shanties and illegal structures around the port corridors is what will enable us to remove the presence of miscreants that harass the truck drivers.”